We knew they probably wouldn’t succeed but we gave them weapons, brainwashed the hell out of them and gave them all kinds of good drugs, hoping their “courage” would defeat a complete, well trained army.
The Ukrainian soldiers obviously not the only ones on drugs. SMH

Posted by: Watzov | Jul 23 2023 14:38 utc | 3

The empire of lies….
“Never under estimate Joe’s ability to f things up”.
Nobel peace prize winner Barack Obama-:)

Posted by: Robert Hope | Jul 23 2023 15:03 utc | 5

4,000 german troops in Lithuania for the purpose of together with Lithuanians and Polaks to liberate Krolewiec from Russian occupation. No nation accept foreign military base on its borders, just like Russia in case of “Strana 404″. Plain to everybody. If mr. Rasputin won’t vacate that RE, there will be a bloodshade, many would die on both sides. ” Panama yeah ?”

Posted by: Lech | Jul 23 2023 15:11 utc | 7

From the last ukraine thread
The main thing from the new briefing of the Russian Defense Ministry:
— The Yug group repelled two enemy attacks in the Zaporozhye direction in the area of the settlement of Workino;
— The group “South” repelled the attack of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the area of Novomikhailovka in the DPR;
— The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation destroyed objects in the area of Odessa, where terrorist acts against the Russian Federation were being prepared with the use of unmanned boats;
— There were foreign mercenaries at the affected facilities near Odessa, where terrorist attacks against the Russian Federation were being prepared;
— Russian troops destroyed more than 160 Ukrainian military and 7 Leopard tanks in the South Donets and Zaporozhye directions;
— Russian troops hit three control points of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Zaporozhye region, the LPR and the DPR, as well as a fuel depot in the Zaporozhye region;
— The Russian Aerospace Forces shot down a Ukrainian Su-25 near Verolyubovka in the DPR, air defense intercepted a HIMARS MLRS projectile and a Storm Shadow cruise missile;
— Russian troops repelled six APU attacks in the Krasnolimansk direction;
— Russian troops stopped the activities of a group of Ukrainian saboteurs near the village of Nevskoye in the LPR;
— The losses of the APU in the Krasnolimansk direction exceeded 130 people per day;
— Russian troops repelled 14 APU attacks in the Donetsk direction during the day, enemy losses amounted to up to 370 servicemen;
Posted by: Rubal | Jul 23 2023 9:17 utc | 50
SEVEN leopards destroyed!

Posted by: UWDude | Jul 23 2023 15:39 utc | 9

Putin and Lukashenko will make their decisions about western Ukraine, but if it was me I’d let the poles have it. It’s a grenade with the pin pulled sitting in Europe’s lap.
Remember that the Banderite ideology wasn’t initially about Russians much at all. It was developed against the Poles who ruled western Ukraine. So create a reservoir of Bandera in western Ukraine administered by the Poles and hopefully with visa free access to Europe. Bandera will come to realize that they were stabbed in the back. It won’t stop their hatred for Russia or attempted terrorism against Russia, but in time that anger will turn west. The historical grievances will be remembered. The Poles haven’t forgotten in any case.
Poland relies on EU and American largesse. It can’t realistically incorporate the least economically valuable part of Ukraine and its people. It will be a festering failed state semi-incorporated into Poland. And the grand plans of Polish military expansion will be spent sitting on the Belarus border and dealing with the Ukrainians. At some point Konfederacia or similar right wing party will win Polish elections and take all of Poland’s problems out on the Ukrainians.

Posted by: Lex | Jul 23 2023 15:51 utc | 11

I have heard that the Russians have broken through the front line and that the Ukrainian front has collapsed at a certain point. Let’s find an appropriate language usage for the new situation. I mean, none of us barflies wants to see crying barfleas.
My suggestion would be: After the successful completion of the largest counteroffensive every, Ukrainian and Russian troops are moving jointly towards Kiev to hold a fitting victory celebration.
What do you think?

Posted by: Tuk | Jul 23 2023 16:17 utc | 13

The week in review post cites the Wall Street Journal propaganda piece called Ukraine’s Lack of Weaponry and Training Risks Stalemate in Fight With Russia.
Risks stalemate?
All those rotting Ukrainian corpses are already stale, mate.

Posted by: Biswapriya Purkayast | Jul 23 2023 16:34 utc | 15

@Lex 11
Luka said in his latest video with Putin that Belarus has no wish to see west Ukranazistan go to Polandistan and if the Ukrainian people there want Belarus to intervene to stop it, Belarus is prepared to do that.

Posted by: Biswapriya Purkayast | Jul 23 2023 16:38 utc | 17

Posted by: Bemildred | Jul 23 2023 15:12 utc | 8
Jimmy tried to start transitioning to solar, and noticed the “inordinate fear of communism” of the us and the foreign policy establishment. he also tried to prepare the US for less consumption. all of these flew in the face of the emerging neoliberal consensus of both parties.

Posted by: pretzelattack | Jul 23 2023 16:46 utc | 19

Hey Biswapriya, how come no new comics?

Posted by: Calgary Guy | Jul 23 2023 16:49 utc | 21

There’s plans afoot to make a Martime corridor along the nato states in the black sea. There’s going to be some sort of confrontation and all sorts of weapons mixed in with commercial shipments.
Concurrently a naval confrontation is brewing in the Persian gulf over seized oil tankers.
I smell a challenge to nato naval supremacy brewing. Will russia and Iran finally cooperate better? They keep having a rivalry instead of an alliance. Russian diplomacy could sure be better.

Posted by: Neofeudalfuture | Jul 23 2023 16:53 utc | 23

Imagine what happens, if the Ukrainians learn that they have been used by the west and that the west never had the intention to let them into the EU/NATO…
Posted by: Tuk | Jul 23 2023 16:07 utc | 12
——————————————————————
They Ukies don’t know that NATO told Z to defeat the Russians first? Is the control over news and the word-of-mouth channel that tight?
BTW, if and when Z defeats the Russkies, what is the point of NATO membership? 2% of that incredibly shrinking GDP might not be a burden, but what would be the point?

Posted by: Acco Hengst | Jul 23 2023 17:01 utc | 25

Posted by: Tuk | Jul 23 2023 16:07 utc | 12

Imagine what happens, if the Ukrainians learn that they have been used by the west and that the west never had the intention to let them into the EU/NATO…

The thing about a whore is that she never really despises her pimp.
She’ll despise her own father first before she ever blames the pimp.

Posted by: Arch Bungle | Jul 23 2023 17:11 utc | 27

Rheinmetall responds to Russian threats:
it will defend its plant in Ukraine. Armin Papperger, CEO of the German arms concern Rheinmetall, has responded to Russian authorities that have threatened to view the concern’s future plant in Ukraine a “legitimate target” of the Russian Federation.3 days ago
Papperger said that Rheinmetall would not abandon its plans to set up a plant in Ukraine, and that they planned to protect it from attacks with air defence systems of their own manufacture.
Are they really going to build a tank plant in Ukraine?

Posted by: Chaka Khagan | Jul 23 2023 17:15 utc | 29

Also, can someone here please explain what this means, i.e. what is a 200% casualties? Everyone dead twice?
—
Posted by: bill wolfe | Jul 23 2023 17:12 utc | 28
Yes, I have been trying for some time to find out what “300% less” of something means. One leaps to the answer “one third”; but can you really be sure? And it is clear 33% less is not what is meant either, that would be two thirds. I suspect one is only getting one third of what one had before.

Posted by: Bemildred | Jul 23 2023 17:19 utc | 31

Posted by: Bemildred | Jul 23 2023 17:19 utc | 31
It means the military unit has had to be fully reconstituted twice, as the first and second intakes become casualties. Some WWII companies in the NW theatre had 7-800% casualties!

Posted by: Milites | Jul 23 2023 17:29 utc | 33

@bevin #20
‘The basis of the Bandera party in Ukraine is external. In blunt terms Bandera’s party is that of the CIA and MI6 and their various dependencies such as CSIS in Canada.’
Since end of WWII. A tool of empire. And disposable if of no further use.

Posted by: Don Firineach | Jul 23 2023 17:33 utc | 35

@rk30
Quote “Watch Marty from America to get an idea how sad some people, like himself, are since Bakhmut was liberated by Wagners. Big problem, it “wasn’t supposed to happen”. But what was supposed to happen? A Minsk 3? Another retreat? In Syria, their little base is not far from being bombed ( tass.com/world/1650579″
That Marty like saker is a deluded man. He says exactly opposite of what is happening as if he were enemy of Russia and want to put Russia on wayward direction. His type hates practical patriots aswell. Anything Putin does, even if disastrous, is 7D chess!

Posted by: Sam | Jul 23 2023 17:33 utc | 37

An excellent question was posed at the end of Maria Zakharova’s briefing on the 20th I’ve yet to see referred to that explains the genuine nature of the conflict occurring within Ukraine:

Question: Why is Russia forced to fight with Ukraine and cannot pose a threat directly to the United States itself, so that they, in turn, think about supplying further weapons?
Maria Zakharova: Russia is not at war with Ukraine. Russia is repelling hybrid aggression from the West. His “bargaining chip” was Ukraine: a hostage, a victim, and a toolkit. We need to clearly separate these things. It’s like that same manipulative story. Everything seems to be obvious. There is Russia, Ukraine, there is a conflict. For the uninitiated, who do not know either modern or global history, it may look like this. Unfortunately, this is exactly what is presented in the Western media, it is promoted in remote regions of the world, not so dedicated to events. In fact, this is not the case.
All these decades, Russia has had no desire to do anything other than cooperation. We recognized the sovereignty of Ukraine, built true relations of respect for it as a sovereign state, exchanged embassies, concluded international agreements, sent ambassadors at the political level. All this spoke of a special relationship, but at the same time respect for sovereignty. Moreover, never in all the decades before the coup d’état of 2014, which launched the destructive dynamics of the collapse of statehood in Ukraine, Russia did not make any claims, did not raise the question of the ownership of Crimea. I only helped my compatriots. On the basis of bilateral relations, she developed humanitarian and economic ties. The agreements on the basing of the Black Sea Fleet were exclusively within the legal framework. They were beneficial primarily to Ukraine, which receives colossal funds for this. There was not even any intention to exacerbate problematic issues, to bring them to conflict situations.
But the West appeared. Immediately after the beginning of Ukraine’s sovereign path. I’ve been there before, but illegally. Then he began to “legalize” his status. The state bodies of Ukraine were “stuffed” with special services, primarily the United States and NATO countries. Places in government structures began to be occupied by foreigners, people directly affiliated with foreign countries, having passports, residence permits, grant support and pursuing Western interests. Accordingly, the destruction of the statehood of Ukraine began, putting it under the control of the West. Then puppet figures and the government are installed. Under the dictation of the United States, the connection that we had with Ukraine, both within the framework of the USSR, both before and after, began to collapse.
Then this country began to turn into a NATO training ground, preparing to become another NATO base with an obvious aggressive goal against our country. All political and diplomatic efforts, opportunities and proposals were made to resolve this absolutely absurd issue. Because we were given assurances about the non-expansion of NATO to the east. It [the issue] would be resolved by political and diplomatic methods. All proposals on our part were made, but they were rejected by the West. Accordingly, against the background of the growth of nationalism, which appeared not ten years ago, but has long been implanted and nurtured by the West, coups d’état and the collapse of statehood took place. All this led to the beginning of direct clashes between NATO and Russia.
Let me remind you that in the summer of 2021, during the exercises, a British destroyer broke through the Russian border in the Black Sea. In the autumn of 2021, a dangerous rapprochement between NATO aircraft and civil aviation from both Russia and other countries was recorded in our airspace. What kind of Russian-Ukrainian conflict can we talk about when it comes to the actions of the alliance led by the United States, Great Britain and their satellites such as the Baltic states and Poland, to unleash a conflict on the territory of Ukraine directed against our country. To this must be added the economic sanctions imposed on Russia long before 2022, which aimed at the economic “strangulation” of our country, its “making” dependent on Western countries. The energy sector was one of the main “points of attraction” of the West to Ukraine in order to put the transit of Russian gas to Europe under control. An absolutely normal economic project, from which Ukraine received large incomes, which was purely peaceful, focused on the cooperation of the entire European continent, stood like a “bone in the throat” of the United States. They constantly used it as a sore point, undermined this story in order to control the supply of Russian gas to Europe, influence pricing and create an unnatural zone of tension and instability around energy issues on the European continent in order to replace it with American gas and completely control the whole situation. I could not help but react to this, based on your phrase.
As for your question, let me explain. The aggressor is not Russia, but the United States. And we repel this aggression. Everything that is necessary for this is done. [My Emphasis]

Maria’s explanation is how I’ve seen this since the outset that began with the coup in 2014. Being of the West and despising what the West’s become since my birth has become most uncomfortable. I don’t feel like a rebel; what I see is those running the nation becoming increasingly deviant since 1913 with continually escalating criminality, albeit with a de-escalation during FDR’s tenure–but not a complete reversal. And I know I’m not the only one feeling that way.

Posted by: karlof1 | Jul 23 2023 17:47 utc | 39

Karl,
Indeed – that’s why I never say Ukraine’s Army ; it’s always NATOs military.

Posted by: Exile | Jul 23 2023 18:10 utc | 41

qparker@10….if they build it near a major bridge beside a railroad station…..I don’t know, these seem to be the biggest issue Russia has in finding….maybe if Soggybottom gets his way they’ll paint the plant in camouflage Rainbow colours.
Cheers M

Posted by: sean the leprechaun | Jul 23 2023 18:26 utc | 43

Posted by: Swënn | Jul 23 2023 14:25 utc | 2
«The dismemberment of Ukraine and the transfer of its lands to Poland are unacceptable, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg on 23 July»
Very understandable: when the USSR invaded the eastern half of Poland (and the french and english government did not declare war against it as they had against the Third Reich), they attached northern Ruthenia as the western part of the Belarussian SSR, and southern Ruthenia as the western part of the Ukrainian SSR.
During WW2 the northern ruthenian fascists worked, as the southern ruthenian fascists did, with the nazis against the soviets.
Currently the northern ruthenian fascists, trained and funded and armed by the USA as the southern ruthenians, are those pushing for regime change in Minsk, so not only western Belarus joins NATO, but the whole of Belarus.

Posted by: Blissex | Jul 23 2023 18:34 utc | 45

Are they really going to build a tank plant in Ukraine?
Posted by: Chaka Khagan | Jul 23 2023 17:15 utc | 29
Based on the experience of the conflict, the most likely defense for a possible tank factory is that it would be built under a children’s home, a maternity hospital, or a home for the war-disabled.
Air defenses would have to be operated by the AFU, or by civilians hired by Rheinmetall. The air defense of the AFU is known to us all, as far as it still exists.
Of course, you can still lay carpet in a burning house, but….
In any case, Rheinmetall wants to collect the money for the contract, or even more for the “air defense”.

Posted by: 600w | Jul 23 2023 18:40 utc | 47

These Russian lancets are extremely dangerous, but Ukrainians dream so much in NATO, the war continues to the last ukrainian.
https://t.me/razved_dozor/4822

Posted by: Psycho | Jul 23 2023 18:52 utc | 49

https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2023-07-23/blinken-says-ukraine-has-taken-back-50-of-territory-that-russia-seized
Blinken states Ukraine has taken 50% (FIFTY) of Russian occupied territory back.
The rest might take a few months.
Posted by: Trubind1 | Jul 23 2023 16:28 utc | 14

That’s just laughable and confirmation (not that we need any) about Blinken’s qualifications and general intelligence. Very soon Russian counter-offensive gains (from Avdeevka to Kupyansk) exceed those of the Ukrainian counter-offensive.

Posted by: unimperator | Jul 23 2023 19:01 utc | 51

Neofeudalfuture @ 23
If there are going to be serious naval engagements in the Black Sea and Persian Gulf my question is, What hapens to the reactors on the ships when they sink, get damaged, or crack open?

Posted by: circumspect | Jul 23 2023 19:02 utc | 53

Blinken’s bullsh*t is good news. …
Posted by: Eighthman | Jul 23 2023 17:30 utc | 34
Speaking of bullshit / propaganda, CIA chief Burn had a real Colin Powell moment the other day when he desperately tried to influence Russian politics with this:

Putin is trying to buy time with Prigozhin but will get revenge since he is the ‘ultimate apostle of payback,’ CIA director William Burns says

Almost impossible to imagine that there’s anyone with an interest in the matter who wouldn’t see through him in an instant! Dunce cap material.
One can deduce a lot from the effort that western outlets go to disparage Wagner, Prigozhin, and even those in RF MoD thought to be supportive of Wagner.
One can learn even more from noting which most senior RF military figures western outlets make little or no effort to denigrate.

Posted by: anon2020 | Jul 23 2023 19:12 utc | 55

Are they really going to build a tank plant in Ukraine?

The German in me can quite appreciate the efficiency of producing tanks as closely as possible to the place where they’ll be destroyed.

Posted by: Boris Badenov | Jul 23 2023 19:16 utc | 57

I was just reading on RT that Lukashenko has informed Putin that the Wagner PMC fighters in Belarus are in a “Bad Mood” and want to go on a “tour” of Poland.
According to Lukashenko, the fighters hosted in the country are starting to “concern” local authorities, as they want to “go on tour to Poland” to visit Warsaw and Rzeszow, which they believe was a hub for providing Ukrainian troops with military hardware during the fighting for the key Donbass city of Artyomovsk (also known as Bakhmut).
Poland rushes more troops to the Belarus border. Poland should be very afraid of Wagner’s Up Armored Tour Busses. 🙂

Posted by: Golddigger | Jul 23 2023 19:34 utc | 59

Papperger said that Rheinmetall would not abandon its plans to set up a plant in Ukraine, and that they planned to protect it from attacks with air defence systems of their own manufacture.
Are they really going to build a tank plant in Ukraine?

Posted by: Chaka Khagan | Jul 23 2023 17:15 utc | 29
Courios. A weapons plant defending itself… Mercenaries having trouble with politicians or Generals of their employer. Mercenaries rebelling against their employer….
These are stories straight from “Battletech” novels and can be read there multiple times.

Posted by: Helmuth von Moltke | Jul 23 2023 19:43 utc | 61

Posted by: Golddigger | Jul 23 2023 19:34 utc | 59
Wagner goes rogue, invades Poland, takes out NATO bases. Withdraws back to Belarus. Russia has plausible deniability – it wasn’t our idea. It was that crazy Prighozhin – see how he tried the same thing in Rostov back in June?
Just sayin’

Posted by: Ghost of Zanon | Jul 23 2023 19:55 utc | 63

@53 circumspect
Well I expect nothing nuclear in the black sea I expect it to be picked up at the end of hostilities. It’ll make riveting television. I would also expect fishing to recover if people ban it for a length of time.
Otherwise, what? Worry about it? Nah, lots of nuclear accidents, we can survive a little background radiation long enough.

Posted by: Neofeudalfuture | Jul 23 2023 20:14 utc | 65

Rheinmetall would not abandon its plans to set up a plant in Ukraine
Posted by: Chaka Khagan | Jul 23 2023 17:15 utc | 29
I hope the German tanks built at the new factory in Ukraine will be environmentally friendly, co2 neutral, promote diversity amongst the killed, and permit sustainable warfare.

Posted by: Passerby | Jul 23 2023 20:19 utc | 67

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Jul 23 2023 19:46 utc | 62
I admire your optimism on the NPP threat but there’s no way to know what’s going on behind the scene, maybe a deals been done, maybe not, and there’s still DU floating about, as munitions and armour plate.
On the Grain Deal, we should be suspicious of the fact that Russia’s “partners” have done everything to get Russia to back out of it short of fire missiles from the grain carriers. Borrell seemed positively energised at the fact that, in his mind, Russia could be held responsible for the failure of the deal.

Posted by: anon2020 | Jul 23 2023 20:20 utc | 69

Posted by: Golddigger | Jul 23 2023 20:15 utc | 66
Thanks for the clarification. And it was actually single barrel. It seems very standard A/D system.
Definitely useless on Kinzhal. My guess is Rheinmetall is only talking about this because they get large subsidies from German government and EU, who have hired them to build this factory. It is also a PR project for the EU of “sticking it up to Putin”.
It’s more or less a riskless proposition for Rheinmetall which will in the worst case, end up with a decent margin.

Posted by: unimperator | Jul 23 2023 20:23 utc | 71

Posted by: Biswapriya Purkayast | Jul 23 2023 16:34 utc | 15
All those rotting Ukrainian corpses are already stale, mate.
Graham gets criticized for comments like “Russians are dying, best money we’ve spent” while Biswapriya Purkayast spews bloodlust like “All those rotting Ukrainian corpses are already stale, mate.”

Posted by: Inkan1969 | Jul 23 2023 20:30 utc | 73

On the Grain Deal, we should be suspicious of the fact that Russia’s “partners” have done everything to get Russia to back out of it short of fire missiles from the grain carriers. Borrell seemed positively energised at the fact that, in his mind, Russia could be held responsible for the failure of the deal.
Posted by: anon2020 | Jul 23 2023 20:20 utc | 69

Let’s be honest here. Borrell is long past his due date and missing a few brain cells.
Nevertheless, the reason why EU is happy is because once again they can create and sell a PR show of evil Russkies starving the world. But the fact is, the EU was the largest benefactor from free sea transport of grain from Ukraine, as it kept the costs low, and enabling to hoard it from under the nose of non-western states.
If I were Putin, I’d be busy guaranteeing to replace the lost grain to China (they did that), and also creating a new grain deal with Erdogan, not involving the West. And minimum allotments for non-western states.
The Ukrainian grain output has crashed due to a variety of reasons, so it isn’t a major factor in the grain market anymore, anyway.

Posted by: unimperator | Jul 23 2023 20:35 utc | 75

Posted by: Golddigger | Jul 23 2023 19:34 utc | 59
Wagner goes rogue, invades Poland, takes out NATO bases. Withdraws back to Belarus. Russia has plausible deniability – it wasn’t our idea. It was that crazy Prighozhin – see how he tried the same thing in Rostov back in June?
Just sayin’
Posted by: Ghost of Zanon | Jul 23 2023 19:55 utc | 63
Yep. That’s exactly the sort of thing I think should be happening to random American bases around the world.

Posted by: arthur brogard | Jul 23 2023 20:44 utc | 77

anon2020 | Jul 23 2023 20:20 utc | 69
Even if the Ukrainians or Brits do use a dirty bomb or try and cause contamination by an attack on ZNPP, it will make no difference to the outcome now. If the US were going to go nuclear, they would have done so by now. It seems enough of the elite in the US now understand that if they get involved in a war with Russia and go nuclear, they will simply become skid marks in a very large sheet of glass.
Destruction of the Russian economy was a big part of the empires planning for this war against Russia. Although they had built the mother of all proxy armies in Ukraine as Will Schryver calls it the main part of Russia defeat was to be due to internal collapse. As Putin said and warned the Russian people of in the runup the SMO – “Russia can only be defeated by itself. No outside power can defeat Russia”.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Jul 23 2023 20:49 utc | 79

That doesn’t seem like something Putin would want.
Posted by: Inkan1969 | Jul 23 2023 20:36 utc | 76
Maybe that is exactly what Putin wants. Perhaps its time to Up the stakes.
Wht wait for HATO to stage a false flag?
““Today we hear that they want to defeat us on the battlefield. What can you say? Let them try,”
Vladimir Putin

Posted by: Golddigger | Jul 23 2023 20:59 utc | 81

“Then NATO has cause to invade Belarus…”
And have its ass nuked `til it glows.
Lukashenko doesn’t have a weak spot for liberals like Putin does. He doesn’t care about “burning bridges” to the West.

Posted by: William Gruff | Jul 23 2023 21:04 utc | 83

Posted by: William Gruff | Jul 23 2023 21:04 utc | 83
And have its ass nuked `til it glows.
Posted by: Golddigger | Jul 23 2023 20:59 utc | 81
Maybe that is exactly what Putin wants. Perhaps its time to Up the stakes.
Wht wait for HATO to stage a false flag?
““Today we hear that they want to defeat us on the battlefield. What can you say? Let them try,”
Vladimir Putin
I don’t think Putin wants world suicide through nuclear armageddon.

Posted by: Inkan1969 | Jul 23 2023 21:14 utc | 85

“As for your question, let me explain. The aggressor is not Russia, but the United States. And we repel this aggression. Everything that is necessary for this is done.”
But that was not actually the question. The question was: “Why is Russia forced to fight with Ukraine and cannot pose a threat directly to the United States itself, so that they, in turn, think about supplying further weapons?”
I ask that myself.

Posted by: wagelaborer | Jul 23 2023 21:19 utc | 87

Posted by: arthur brogard | Jul 23 2023 21:24 utc | 88
And then lastly ‘give NATO a reason’ ? Since when has NATO needed a reason?
So what would hurt them? Just the very idea of those 700 bases being vulnerable. For if they start closing down or hunkering down, shuttering up, as they quickly would on the least threat, then American prestige and perceived power diminishes drastically around the world and most particularly in that particular nations where that particular base is.
Which would be bad enough of itself, obviously but it would have another effect: it would set precedent and establish a modus operandi. It may become a fashion. It may become the new thing.
If NATO did not need a reason, it would’ve invaded already. Why give them a reason? Your idea of how bases would react to the “least threat” sounds delusional. The opposite would happen; NATO would mobilize, it could claim to be the victim, and everyone would rally together. You seem to think war is some kind of trend (“new thing”?)

Posted by: Inkan1969 | Jul 23 2023 21:29 utc | 89

Golddigger | Jul 23 2023 20:15 utc | 66
Looking it up, perhaps this is actually the AK-630 (M1-2 variant)? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AK-630
As to the other poster’s question regarding how long this can be fired, a 4,000 round feed at 10,000 makes me think 24 seconds.
Some version in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Xjx7-NbE7M

Posted by: Boris Badenov | Jul 23 2023 21:39 utc | 91

Posted by: Inkan1969 | Jul 23 2023 21:29 utc | 89
Don’t know what planet you’re on, but it is a very naive claim that Nato would need a legitimate reason to attack Russia.
They can invent a “legitimate” reason at any point in time they want, and use full control of MSM to declare the need to attack Russia. They were on the verge of using the S-300 missile in Poland but decided at the last moment not to.
Reasons are irrelevant. The real issue of there haven’t been a “reason” so far is they are in worse state than ever to be attacking Russia than ever before, and is a pipe dream.

Posted by: unimperator | Jul 23 2023 21:46 utc | 93

Posted by: Inkan1969 | Jul 23 2023 21:32 utc | 90
That absolutely excellent article linked by Teraspol | Jul 23 2023 19:23 utc | 58 implies that we are right now at a critical point. A NATO Black Sea naval battle may be about to start. The goal is of course Odessa.
if as is suggested NATO plans expansion via Romania and Bulgaria sea routes and of course actual ships, then it might be the trigger.
Russia has suggested that it will stop entry of ships to Odessa – probably by stop and search or perhaps by mines.
Now for the VERY first time Russia has hit Odessa seriously and now the UN World heritage people are starting the whinge. It is indeed serious stuff.
From practically day 1 I have been saying the SMO cannot end until Russia has control of Odessa. Initial attempts failed as well as setbacks like Moskva and losing Snake island. However it may actually have really started now, assuming that Russia has finally accepted that there will be damage to its own heritage.
A very sad reality of war.

Posted by: watcher | Jul 23 2023 21:52 utc | 95

“Spear and shield” developments in military technology and practice favor defense over offense (or vice versa) or large scale maneuvers over small scale actions (or vice versa). Introduction of better shields (castles, fortresses, trenches) and better spears (bows with longer range, guns, cannons, drones) change the balance continuously. Currently, with trench warfare and localized battles predominating, WWI lessons are important again. I found very interesting analogies in Wikipedia “Brusilov offensive”
“The largest and most lethal offensive of the war, the effects of the Brusilov offensive were far-reaching. It relieved German pressure on French forces at Verdun, and helped to relieve the Austro-Hungarian pressure on the Italians. It inflicted irreparable losses on the Austro-Hungarian Army, and induced Romania to finally enter the war on the side of the Entente. The human and material losses on the Russian side also greatly contributed to the onset of the Russian Revolution the following year.”
One could say that Summer 2024 repeats Summer 1916 on similar geographic scale, and in manpower terms, five times smaller (give it or take). Note importance of the global (pan-European) context that induced Russian Empire to engage is a successful but limited offensive at very large cost with ricocheting consequences, two main participating empires (Austrian, Russian) have fallen within roughly two years, Entente secured Italy and Romania within its ranks — but curiously, those two were on Teutonic side next time. Seems that Tsar should pay less attention to “global consequences” and more to domestic ones. Perhaps this is what Putin thinks.

Posted by: Piotr Berman | Jul 23 2023 21:59 utc | 97

What can anyone do to hurt America?
Posted by: arthur brogard | Jul 23 2023 21:24 utc | 88
Perhaps certain types of inactivity can hurt most. Why Yellen, Treasury Secretary, offered important concessions to PRC is they only purchased measly 750 billion USD worth of Treasury bonds? (or was it 850?)

Posted by: Piotr Berman | Jul 23 2023 22:05 utc | 99